The Transaction Language 1 (TL-1) is a network management protocol used for managing communications networks. TL-1 facilitates communication between a network element and a manager (i.e., software executed on a remote personal computer (PC)). TL-1 supports different types of messages, including input command messages, acknowledgments, output response messages and autonomous messages. Network elements frequently possess the ability to function in SONET networks and SDH networks. The TL-1 interface is often based on one type of network. Thus the messages utilized by TL-1 may be derived, for example, from SONET so that the names for facilities, equipment and parameters are based on SONET terminology. This approach of developing a TL-1 interface for each different terminology requires, for example, that a TL-I interface based on SDH be developed for a network element operating in an SDH environment, even if a SONET-based TL-1 is available.